The character Gollum is seen in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." (AP Photo/Warner Bros., File)

(Newser)
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Fans of JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings can prepare for "a new epic journey in Middle Earth." Amazon has announced plans to create a TV series inspired by the fantasy trilogy after acquiring the global TV rights for a reported $250 million, reports Deadline. The company says the multi-season show will focus on "previously unexplored stories" before the events of The Fellowship of the Ring, meaning it could fill part of the 60-year story gap that follows The Hobbit, per the Verge and NPR; the latter rounds up 10 story ideas. A spinoff is also possible.

I don't know about this....Has anyone see what MTV did to the Shannara series? Brooks had such great books. However the tv series basically ruined the story.

iq145

Nov 14, 2017 10:07 PM CST

i can explain the mysterious origins for some Middle Earth / Lord of The Rings names. It's been an interest of mine since i'd discovered years ago that J. R. R. Tolkien and my grandfather were co-professors at Oxford... Hobbit = "Human Rabbit". Middle Earth = Based on the Norse mythology name for the world "Midgard". Smaug = Simurgh Also little known, other names he used were based on true 'slightly obscure' historic figures... such as Pippin based on "Pippin the Younger". Even the names Aragorn and Gandalf were borrowed from real people. i believe i recall "Sauron" was somebody too. A gollum is a Jewish word for a mindless monster. The giant eagles were real life birds. Argentavis, aka Roc. Other names were just wordplays, and were even humourous: Kili and Fili, Aragorn son of Arathorn, Thrain and Nain, Fror and Thror and Gror, Sauron and Saruman, Balin and Dwalin, Oin, and Gloin, Nori and Dori and Ori, Bifur and Bofur and Bombur, etcetera... Even the One Ring is based of the "real life" legend: The Ring of Gyges: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Gyges

thegayblade

Nov 14, 2017 3:25 PM CST

I am looking forward to this. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings remain some of the best books I have read.